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Personal care products (PCPs) are a diverse group of common household substances used for health, beauty and cleaning purposes. These include disinfectants, fragrances, insect repellents, preservatives and UV filters, among others. Some of them are considered chemicals of emerging concern due to their presence and negative impact on aquatic ecosystems, specially related to endocrine disruption and reproductive disorders. The entry of those chemicals to water bodies occurs mainly through the sewage effluents from wastewater treatment plants due to their incomplete or inefficient removal. The purpose of this review was to collect and analyze data about the incidence and concentrations of PCPs reported as emerging pollutants in different water matrices, including wastewater influents and effluents. Our database is composed of 141 articles with information about 72 PCPs recorded as emerging pollutants in 30 countries, in concentrations ranging from 0.029 ng/L to 7.811 × 106 ng/L. Fragrances, antiseptics and sunscreens were the most reported groups. As expected, the largest number of PCPs documented as emerging pollutants were found in wastewater treatment plant effluents with a total of 64 compounds, compared to 43 in surface water and 23 in groundwater, which evidence the anthropological contribution of PCPs to water bodies. These molecules were found in all the continents, however, there is a lack of information regarding the presence of emerging pollutants from PCPs in developing countries. Therefore, we suggest further efforts in assessing the occurrence and concentrations of these chemicals in those areas. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. diethyltoluamide, 134-62-3, 26545-51-7; galaxolide, 1222-05-5; methyl paraben, 99-76-3; oxybenzone, 131-57-7, 18733-07-8; triclocarban, 101-20-2; triclosan, 3380-34-5; Cosmetics; Sewage; Waste Water; Water Pollutants, Chemical

The production of high quality wastewater after treatment plants using a membrane bioreactor (MBR) probably requires less control than traditional processes of activated sludge. However, the use of MBR leads to additional problems associated with the activated sludge filtration, the formation of a sediment layer on the surface of the membrane and membrane fouling. Operation engineers require simple tools for controlling and monitoring the operation of treatment plants that can provide timely information about the biological state of the activated sludge and the filterability of the waste fluid, as well as the risks of membrane contamination. To this end, effective means of monitoring MBR and methods for determining biological activity are considered. For a broader characterization of the wastewater composition, the use of total nitrogen and total carbon analyzers is considered, which have significant advantages over the analysis of chemical and biological oxygen consumption (COD, BOD).These tools can be used regularly to ensure timely intervention and more stable monitoring of the operation of MBR systems. © 2019 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

This synthesis report details the process, outputs and intermediate outcomes of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) Technical Assistance (TA) to Support Government of India for implementation of the National Urban Sanitation Policy (P131963). The objective of this TA was to (i) strengthen urban sanitation services and target the urban poor by development of strategies for regulation, funds allocation, improved accountability mechanisms and implementation of inclusive sanitation policies at national level and in at least five states, with two of these low-income states (LIS). This was to be supplemented with (ii) enabling design and use of improved performance monitoring systems by Government of India, 3 states and 300 urban local bodies by 2015, and (iii) strengthen capacity of local urban government institutions to provide improved – inclusive and sustainable – sanitation services for all. This TA provides the building blocks for sustainable sanitation improvements which are being adopted and implemented as part of another TA (P131967) in Madhya Pradesh and Tripura to pilot and operationalize City Sanitation Plans (CSPs) towards outcome oriented sector improvements. The areas addressed in this TA include the following specific goals of the NUSP: open defecation free cities, and integrated city-wide sanitation. The TA provided assistance to central government and the states in putting in place various elements identified as necessary for sector improvement, including planning, provisioning and monitoring processes. The TA also identified the need for the cities to see opportunities for financial recovery of investments through reuse and recycle strategies, to strengthen the incentive for investment in sanitation improvements.

Two multi-residue methods based on off-line solid phase extraction followed by LC-MS/MS have been applied in samples collected from three sewage treatment plants for the identification and quantification of licit and illicit drugs. The occurrence of the drugs in wastewater appears to be influenced by both the operational parameters of each plant and their consumption in the area served by the corresponding plant. Generally, the present study demonstrated that both licit and illicit drugs were found in the effluent wastewater of all urban wastewater treatment plants; a fact suggesting that they are bioresistance. These compounds were determined in relatively high concentrations (licit drugs: below limit of detection (BLD) to 5520 ng/L and illicit drugs: BLD to 5815 ng/L) in all effluent wastewater samples monitored in this study. The major groups of licit drugs detected in the effluents were antibiotics, b-blockers, analgesics, and non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory drugs suggesting that these compounds show a noticeable resistance against the biological treatment applied. The concentrations of antibiotics and b-blockers in the effluents ranged from ca. 4 to 200 ng/L and 40 to 500ng/L, respectively. Concerning the illicit drugs, cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine were detected in almost all effluent samples with median values of 1 and 3 ng/L, respectively.

In this issue: trends: 10 years of private-sector participation in water; interview: Mozambiques industry behind the tap; and feature: irrigating Brazils semi-arid northeast.

Sanitation services are beneficial for communities at large. They generate strong positive health and environmental benefits to society ('externalities'). Public financing is an important way to stimulate the provision of these services, but there are serious issues with the way public subsidies for sanitation have been delivered up to now. Recent estimates show that the sanitation millennium development goals (MDGs) will simply not be met in a number of countries if 'business-as-usual' continues. The study looks at how such Output-Based Aid (OBA) schemes might be designed by analyzing the sanitation value-chain, and what institutional, financing and risk mitigation measures would be required for each type of OBA scheme. Questions discussed include 'what' outputs should be subsidized and 'who' are the most likely candidates to provide output-based sanitation services.

This book contains the principles a municipal government should consider before developing a citywide sanitation strategy. In this context, this strategy refers to a city's strategic mid-term sanitation development plan, which incorporates vision, missions, objectives and targets as well as specific strategies to improve sanitation services. Chapter one starts with an introduction of the background, objectives, concept, and the process of a city sanitation development, followed by a description of the position of the citywide sanitation strategy within the sanitation development planning process. The remaining chapters describe the steps to develop a citywide sanitation strategy. Chapter's two to six explain the five major steps of the process: a) establishing a working group, b) city sanitation mapping, c) defining a sanitation development framework, d) preparing a strategy for sanitation services development, and e) preparing a strategy for development of non-technical aspects. Finally, chapter seven concludes the book with a series of follow-up activities for implementation upon approval of the citywide sanitation strategy.

In the current study, the removal of slowly degradable hydrophobic chemicals in sewage treatment plants (STPs) has been evaluated with emphasis on the combination of free and total concentration data. Free and total concentrations of two polycyclic musks were determined in each compartment of four STPs. The free concentration of the polycyclic musks remains virtually constant throughout all the compartments of the STPs with values between 0.21 and 0.57 μg/L for AHTN and between 0.79 and 2.0 μg/L for HHCB. Total concentrations of these fragrances are highly dependent on the volatile solids in a given compartment resulting in much more variation with values between 0.42 and 92 μg/L for AHTN and between 1.25 and 258 μg/L for HHCB. It is concluded that free concentrations of these hydrophobic chemicals in the compartments of STPs are mostly biodegradation mediated, while total concentrations are mediated by the concentration of solids. The combination of measurements of free and total concentrations can improve estimations regarding removal efficiency and removal pathways.

After administration pharmaceuticals are excreted by the patients into the aquatic environment via wastewater. Unused medications are sometimes disposed of in drains. The drugs may enter the aquatic environment and eventually reach drinking water, if they are not biodegraded or eliminated during sewage treatment. Additionally, antibiotics and disinfectants are assumed to disturb the wastewater treatment process and the microbial ecology in surface waters. Furthermore, resistant bacteria may be selected in the aeration tanks of sewage treatment plants by the antibiotic substances present. Since the 1980s, data on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in natural surface waters and the effluents of sewage treatment plants have been reported. More recently, pharmaceuticals have been detected in ground and drinking water. However, only little is known about the risk imposed on humans by pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in surface and drinking water. An overview of input, occurrence, elimination (e.g. biodegradability) and possible effects of different pharmaceutical groups such as anti-tumour drugs, antibiotics and contrast media as well as AOX resulting from hospitals effluent input into sewage water and surface water is presented After administration pharmaceuticals are excreted by the patients into the aquatic environment via wastewater. Unused medications are sometimes disposed of in drains. The drugs may enter the aquatic environment and eventually reach drinking water, if they are not biodegraded or eliminated during sewage treatment. Additionally, antibiotics and disinfectants are assumed to disturb the wastewater treatment process and the microbial ecology in surface waters. Furthermore, resistant bacteria may be selected in the aeration tanks of sewage treatment plants by the antibiotic substances present. Since the 1980s, data on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in natural surface waters and the effluents of sewage treatment plants have been reported. More recently, pharmaceuticals have been detected in ground and drinking water. However, only little is known about the risk imposed on humans by pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in surface and drinking water. An overview of input, occurrence, elimination (e.g. biodegradability) and possible effects of different pharmaceutical groups such as anti-tumour drugs, antibiotics and contrast media as well as AOX resulting from hospitals effluent input into sewage water and surface water is presented

India has 18% of the world’s population, 1.15 billion people, but access to only 4% of world’s fresh water resources. In t he recent past, the dependency of Indian agriculture on ground water resources has increased upto an enormous extent due to several factors including increased demand of food, erratic behavior of monsoon, developmental pressure of various allied sectors etc. Currently, the available 70% of water resources in India being used to fulfill the water demand f or agriculture and the 80% of domestic water supplies come from groundwater which led to rapidly declining groundwater tables in most of the states in India and has found no longer sustainable. Present study has primarily hi ghlights the need of the Indian conditions for treatment and reuse of wastewater which happens to be the main cause for pol lution of water resources in India. In this study efforts were made for assessment the potential of model sewage fed aq uaculture system of capacity 8 MLD in Karnal, India for wastewater treatment, reuse and resource recovery during the treatment process. The in-depth evaluation study were conducted for integrated assessment of STP in association with h ealth, environment, society, and institutions aspects as well as quality of treated effluent subjected for reuse in irrigation. The Economic analysis of the model sewage-fed aquaculture system shows that there was an annual profit of INR 8-10 lak hs through selling of fish in local market as well as ample amount of revenue generated through selling of treated eff luent to the farmers. Also, the irrigation with treated wastewater able to save the fertilizer upto 50kg of Urea and 50kg of diammonium phosphate during cultivation of one acre of crop annually. The system was found good for removal of phy sic-chemical pollutants and also found very effectiv e in removal of bacteriological pollutants. The reported removals f or total coliform, fecal coliform and fecal streptococci w ere found 99.988, 99.965 and 99.9567, respectively. © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Asia-Pacific Ch emical, Biological & Environmental Engineering Society